Bamboo basket

ABSTRACT

In a bamboo basket, each side panel is formed of a plurality of longitudinal bamboo slats arranged in parallel, a plurality of transverse bamboo slats attached to the longitudinal bamboo slats at a back side, and a plurality of long, thin, narrow bamboo strips wound crossed over the longitudinal bamboo slats and transversely extended across the transverse bamboo slats to tie the transverse bamboo slats to the longitudinal bamboo slats.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to bamboo baskets and, moreparticularly, to a side panel design for a bamboo basket.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Conventional baskets may be made of different materials such asceramics, glass, wood, plastics, stainless steel, etc. In order toattract consumers to buy, the outer appearance design of a basket isimportant. A wooden or bamboo basket is a great favorite of consumersfor the advantage of its ancient-style beauty. A regular bamboo basketis generally comprised of a framework and a woven structure. The woodenstructure has open spaces in it. The woven structure may be adhered tothe framework, or tied to the framework by strings. A woven structureadhered to a framework is less strong, and tends to be forced away fromthe framework. However, tying a woven structure to a framework withstrings consumes much labor, resulting in high cost.

[0005]FIGS. 4 and 5 show a bamboo basket constructed according to theprior art. According to this design, the woven structure A is comprisedof a plurality of longitudinal bamboo slats A1 and a plurality oftransverse bamboo slats A2. The longitudinal bamboo slats A1 has aplurality of coupling notches A11. The longitudinal bamboo slats A2 hasa plurality of coupling notches A21 respectively coupled to the couplingnotches A11 of the longitudinal bamboo slats A1. Processing the couplingnotches A11 and A21 greatly increases the manufacturing cost of thebamboo basket.

[0006] There is known another design of bamboo basket in which the wovenstructure is formed by weaving bamboo strips subject to a predeterminedwoven pattern, having a plurality of protruded end mounting portionsrespectively fitted into respective mounting holes in the frameworkbefore covering of the top cover frame of the framework. This design ofbamboo basket is also expensive to manufacture because it consumes muchlabor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention has been accomplished under thecircumstances in view. It is one object of the present invention toprovide a bamboo basket, which is inexpensive to manufacture and durablein use. According to the present invention, the bamboo basket iscomprised of a framework formed of a top open frame, a bottom panel, anda plurality of columns, and a plurality of side panels connected betweenthe top open frame and the bottom panel and separated by the columns.Each side panel is formed of a plurality of longitudinal bamboo slatsarranged in parallel, a plurality of transverse bamboo slats attached tothe longitudinal bamboo slats at a back side, and a plurality of long,thin, narrow bamboo strips wound crossed over the longitudinal bambooslats and transversely extended across the transverse bamboo slats totie the transverse bamboo slats to the longitudinal bamboo slats.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008]FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a bamboo basket constructedaccording to the present invention.

[0009]FIG. 2 is an elevational view of another bamboo basket constructedaccording to the present invention.

[0010]FIG. 3 is an elevational view of a part of the present invention,showing the bamboo strips crossed over the longitudinal bamboo slats.

[0011]FIG. 4 is an elevational view of a bamboo basket constructedaccording to the prior art.

[0012]FIG. 5 is an exploded view in an enlarged scale of a part of oneside panel of the bamboo basket shown in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0013] Referring to FIGS. 1˜3, a bamboo basket is shown comprising fourside panels 1, a top open frame 2, a bottom panel 3, and four columns 4.The top open frame 2 and the bottom panel 3 are horizontally arranged inparallel at different elevations. The four side panels 1 are verticallyconnected between the top open frame 2 and the bottom panel 2 in foursides. The four columns 4 are vertically connected between the top openframe 2 and the bottom panel 2 in four corners between each two adjacentside panels 1.

[0014] The top open frame 2 according to this embodiment is arectangular open frame. The side panels 1 are slotted panels formed oflongitudinal bamboo slats 11 and transverse bamboo slats 5. Thelongitudinal bamboo slats 11 are arranged in parallel. The transversebamboo slats 5 are attached to the longitudinal bamboo strips 11 at theback side and secured thereto by long, thin, narrow bamboo strips 6. Thebamboo strips 6 are crossed over the longitudinal bamboo slats 11 andtransversely extended across the transverse bamboo slats 5 to secure thetransverse bamboo slats 5 to the longitudinal bamboo slats 11, forming aplurality of crossed portions over the longitudinal bamboo slats 5. Whenassembled, the crossed portions of the bamboo strips 6 show a tiepattern that causes a sense of beauty.

[0015] A prototype of bamboo basket has been constructed with thefeatures of the annexed drawings of FIGS. 1˜3. The bamboo basketfunctions smoothly to provide all of the features discussed earlier.

[0016] Although a particular embodiment of the invention has beendescribed in detail for purposes of illustration, various modificationsand enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited exceptas by the appended claims.

What the invention claimed is:
 1. A bamboo basket comprising a top openframe, a bottom panel, a plurality of side panels connected between saidtop open frame and said bottom panel, and a plurality of columnsconnected between said top open frame and said bottom panel and betweeneach two adjacent side panels, wherein said side panels each arecomprised of a plurality of longitudinal bamboo slats arranged inparallel, a plurality of transverse bamboo slats attached to saidlongitudinal bamboo slats at a back side, and a plurality of long, thin,narrow bamboo strips wound round said longitudinal bamboo slats and saidtransverse bamboo slats to tie said transverse bamboo slats to saidlongitudinal bamboo slats.
 2. The bamboo basket as claimed in claim 1wherein said bamboo strips are crossed over longitudinal bamboo slatsand transversely extended over said transverse bamboo slats, forming aplurality of crossed portions over said longitudinal bamboo slats.